yes. would love to see a giant stand of white pines in that end. 100 footers. all of them. no juniper or spruce crap.
10 years later, TCF Bank Stadium is aging well
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yes. would love to see a giant stand of white pines in that end. 100 footers. all of them. no juniper or spruce crap.
A_Slab_of_Bacon
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Uh ... that's gonna be hard to do ... I have a lot of faith in PJ and all right now but that might be beyond him.
Yes. When a great singer hits those high notes on They shall guard thy fame and adore thy name, I would get tingles. Wisconsin fans actually sing Varsity and sway...it's a good crowd moment.
People love to crowd sing....see Wonderwall at soccer, see Caroline at Fenway, see Hang on Sloopy at the Shoe...
they have dropped the Kiss cam, which I hate, but the crowd loves.
the cheese curd guy in the plaza open end is killing it....always long lines...give him more space? bring in the Sweet Martha crowd on the other end? Have Land O Lakes sponsor free milk?
Flecknation
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What about the cannon they use to shoot after every score? Anyone know why they stopped doing that? Some teams still have cannons.
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your neighborhood bar used to be a source of free shuttles for the game...used to be tons of nordeast and sout mpls bars that would bring in groups...
DarrenTheGreek
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The Cannon Man passed away and none of his family/friends wanted to continue the tradition so it died.
I love our stadium. If I were to nitpick... It'd be nice to have a way to get the people out of the DQ Club and into their seats, so prime seats aren't empty. Get rid of the electric noise on third downs - we can make our own noise! It is odd that none of the cheer squads go to the open end on the home side - they used to do that. I miss Jim Mitchell and Rod Person. I apologize, but my biggest irritant on game day is the band announcer. His voice does not work for me.
do the kids a ticket with a number or a general admission ticket...reward kids who get tickets scanned and are repeat buyers with better seat assignment...this allows the kids to party to the last minute and still get a good seat...now, for a good seat, kids have to decide to leave their group or party early...let the hard cores stay late and bring the hangers on with them
beavergopher
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They should have shot his ashes out of the cannon.
get a cannon from the Minnesota First, Minnesota has a great tradition of being the first to sign up for Abe Lincoln's call to arnms and suffered an incredible proportional loss of life at some significant bloody battles...and then get some SEC teams up here to play...and play the Battle Hymn of the Republic early and often...
another great Minnesota song and Swinging Gate formation that is cool and unique that the casual fan who shows up at kickoff or later and leaves early and walks around at half knows nothing about...get that done during one of the long tV breaks if possible
another great Minnesota song and Swinging Gate formation that is cool and unique that the casual fan who shows up at kickoff or later and leaves early and walks around at half knows nothing about...get that done during one of the long tV breaks if possible
live look-ins from a Gopher watch party in the Middle East or from the VFW/Legion in some Minnesota small town like Cold Spring or Albertville or Glencoe or Marshall or Minneapolis North.
or a live look-in from a Gopher fan in a combine...but not a deer stand....or youth dance tournamnet
or a live look-in from a Gopher fan in a combine...but not a deer stand....or youth dance tournamnet
Ignatius L Hoops
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Yes, the stadium's aged well.
Yes, to repeat some of the above:
The student section should be a section.
I'd love to see some trees return. (Minor issue.
Like Mariucci, escalators should be added.
They've seemed to have sped up the entry process.
We hear the band just fine-third row upper deck near the west 32 yard line.
Adding some restrooms, concession stands and a party deck on the upper concourse seems a good idea.
Yes, to repeat some of the above:
The student section should be a section.
I'd love to see some trees return. (Minor issue.
Like Mariucci, escalators should be added.
They've seemed to have sped up the entry process.
We hear the band just fine-third row upper deck near the west 32 yard line.
Adding some restrooms, concession stands and a party deck on the upper concourse seems a good idea.
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My number one complaint is the lack of reliable stadium wi-fi. I want to be able to keep up with other games around the country and our own game/reporters through twitter. US Bank/Target Field have managed to implement nice systems but TCF has not kept up.
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I always wondered why they didnt get gold anodized aluminum for the bench seats. Not that much of an expensive upgrade and it would have looked fantastic compared to that dull silver they are now....
That's the only change I am wishing for.
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That's the only change I am wishing for.
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I am a big stadium geek and love this thread. Here are my thoughts, some of which echo what others have said already.
- Regarding the band, where you sit definitely impacts what you hear. I sit basically below where the smaller reply board meets the tower of suites and the band sounds just fine. Sound aside, does the pit the band sits in have anything to do with the sousaphones not blocking the view of the fans behind them?
- It's been a decade and it has long been clear that the students don't want to sit in the upper deck, to the point that students who've arrived at the game to find only upper deck seating available have turned around and gone home or back to a party. The answer is to give the students more seating on the lower deck so that the number of kids booted upstairs becomes minimal to nonexistent. The number of general season ticket holders in sections 115, 117, 119, 131, 133, and 135 is low enough that some consolidation is within reason to eek out some extra downstairs seating for the students. This should have been done long ago, but the general season ticket base will rise in 2020, meaning the U of M would likely be down on the idea of putting more students downstairs in those sections were the idea to even get considered.
- When the game begins, we have spirit squad groups in three of the four corners, only staying out of the northwest corner which goes to visiting spirit squad members if any come. At some point, the spirit squad retreats from the southwest corner and then only occupies the northeast and southeast corners. It would be easy to keep a spirit squad group in the southwest corner for the fans in that area.
- I love the Ric Flair "Whooooo!" but it is getting overused. Keep playing that drop, but mix in some other stuff.
- I can't tell what the story is with the big replay board, but the little one has some burnt out pixels and the color might be a bit off. Let's face it, what was high tech in 2009 has been lapped many times over. The U of M will at some point need to look at replacing both replay boards.
- I get the concern over what we do and don't see on the replay board. Part of the issue is they can't show replays while the ball is in play and sometimes it's snapped again so quickly that the window of opportunity closes. Another issue is the Big Ten generally does not want controversial plays shown in a way that incites the fans against the officials, although the U of M actually goes a bit further with this at times than you'd expect. Another factor is that if there is a call that looks bad for the Gophers, the replay board seems to avoid showing it in order to not give the opposing coach any avenue for a challenge.
- I WANT LIDS FOR MY POP! The concession stands don't have lids for pop anymore. I asked about it and was told it is an environmental concern. I can't buy that explanation wholesale because the real reason clearly is that they save a lot of money on not buying drink lids and on buying fewer straws that people now don't use as much. I've had a pop capsize this season that a lid would have saved and have seen two other instances of this. It's ridiculous. I want lids back.
- The lack of wi-fi and reliable cellular data service has been an issue going back to the beginning. When the crowds are smallish, the lack of wi-fi isn't a big deal, because there are few enough fans that the cell networks don't get taxed. At the Maryland game there were in the area of 5,000 to 7,000 empty seats and at times I could not get cellular data service from AT&T. Can we get this fixed once and for all?
- The in game host idea is good, but the woman doing the gig is not good. Volume issues aside, she has an irritating voice and reads the copy poorly. Get someone else.
- The entry process could be much improved if the people at the gate worked faster and the people in line had a clue of where to go and what to do. There are too many people ready to scan tickets as people enter to the point that you can choose who you hand your ticket too, but not enough security people to use the metal detectors. Too many fans reach the front of the line with no idea that pockets need to be emptied and so forth. It slows everything down.
- Regarding restroom and concession lines along with concourse congestion, I think it's a matter of where you are and when you use them. If you try to use the restroom at halftime, you will wait for quite a while. That's just how it is. If they put in more restrooms, then more people would use them and the lines would still be long. You need to pick your spots on that front. In the enclosed end of the horseshoe, the concourse dramatically widens compared to the sidelines, meaning the congestion is a virtual non issue. The food lines don't seem to be a big problem there either by comparison.
- I agree that Goldy's Locker Room is poorly laid out. The problem is that whoever designed the place did so on the basis of it being a conventional retail store that gets a few people in and out at a time, not a stadium store that will get overwhelmed. There are so many nooks and crannies along with displays and bins everywhere that you can barely move and it likely costs sales.
- The attendance issues aren't going to get solved by this season anymore than they were for good sized crowds at the TCU and Syracuse games a few years back or for those who got aboard for the stadium when it opened in 2009 and were largely gone by 2011. There are people in the U of M's target demographic who have gone most of their lives without giving Gopher football more than a casual thought. They'll watch a big game on TV if the team heats up like in 2003 and the Citrus Bowl season and might get to a game per season or every other season, but they don't make watching the Gophers an appointment and standard part of their lives the way so many do with the Viking or Packers.
A single great season doesn't solve that. If the Gophers fall to a respectable, but unspectacular 7-5 (4-5) next season with no Floyd or Axe wins for instance, the bounce in attendance created by this season will dissipate and we'll be back to 35,000 live bodies for nonconference games against Sun Belt teams and Big Ten games against the likes of Illinois and Rutgers. To get fans in the stadium in bigger and sustainable numbers, seasons like this one or the Citrus Bowl team have to be the norm, not something that happens once in a blue moon.
I think the tickets are overpriced in general, but heavily discounting now or in the near future won't build a long term fan base. The fan that takes advantage of some offer through Cub or dives in because the U of M slashes prices to fill the house isn't going to go all in, certainly not in great enough amounts. To them a Gopher football game is just another fun day out that could be a bike ride or a museum trip or a an apple orchard journey. What builds a large and long term fan base is success.
- Regarding the band, where you sit definitely impacts what you hear. I sit basically below where the smaller reply board meets the tower of suites and the band sounds just fine. Sound aside, does the pit the band sits in have anything to do with the sousaphones not blocking the view of the fans behind them?
- It's been a decade and it has long been clear that the students don't want to sit in the upper deck, to the point that students who've arrived at the game to find only upper deck seating available have turned around and gone home or back to a party. The answer is to give the students more seating on the lower deck so that the number of kids booted upstairs becomes minimal to nonexistent. The number of general season ticket holders in sections 115, 117, 119, 131, 133, and 135 is low enough that some consolidation is within reason to eek out some extra downstairs seating for the students. This should have been done long ago, but the general season ticket base will rise in 2020, meaning the U of M would likely be down on the idea of putting more students downstairs in those sections were the idea to even get considered.
- When the game begins, we have spirit squad groups in three of the four corners, only staying out of the northwest corner which goes to visiting spirit squad members if any come. At some point, the spirit squad retreats from the southwest corner and then only occupies the northeast and southeast corners. It would be easy to keep a spirit squad group in the southwest corner for the fans in that area.
- I love the Ric Flair "Whooooo!" but it is getting overused. Keep playing that drop, but mix in some other stuff.
- I can't tell what the story is with the big replay board, but the little one has some burnt out pixels and the color might be a bit off. Let's face it, what was high tech in 2009 has been lapped many times over. The U of M will at some point need to look at replacing both replay boards.
- I get the concern over what we do and don't see on the replay board. Part of the issue is they can't show replays while the ball is in play and sometimes it's snapped again so quickly that the window of opportunity closes. Another issue is the Big Ten generally does not want controversial plays shown in a way that incites the fans against the officials, although the U of M actually goes a bit further with this at times than you'd expect. Another factor is that if there is a call that looks bad for the Gophers, the replay board seems to avoid showing it in order to not give the opposing coach any avenue for a challenge.
- I WANT LIDS FOR MY POP! The concession stands don't have lids for pop anymore. I asked about it and was told it is an environmental concern. I can't buy that explanation wholesale because the real reason clearly is that they save a lot of money on not buying drink lids and on buying fewer straws that people now don't use as much. I've had a pop capsize this season that a lid would have saved and have seen two other instances of this. It's ridiculous. I want lids back.
- The lack of wi-fi and reliable cellular data service has been an issue going back to the beginning. When the crowds are smallish, the lack of wi-fi isn't a big deal, because there are few enough fans that the cell networks don't get taxed. At the Maryland game there were in the area of 5,000 to 7,000 empty seats and at times I could not get cellular data service from AT&T. Can we get this fixed once and for all?
- The in game host idea is good, but the woman doing the gig is not good. Volume issues aside, she has an irritating voice and reads the copy poorly. Get someone else.
- The entry process could be much improved if the people at the gate worked faster and the people in line had a clue of where to go and what to do. There are too many people ready to scan tickets as people enter to the point that you can choose who you hand your ticket too, but not enough security people to use the metal detectors. Too many fans reach the front of the line with no idea that pockets need to be emptied and so forth. It slows everything down.
- Regarding restroom and concession lines along with concourse congestion, I think it's a matter of where you are and when you use them. If you try to use the restroom at halftime, you will wait for quite a while. That's just how it is. If they put in more restrooms, then more people would use them and the lines would still be long. You need to pick your spots on that front. In the enclosed end of the horseshoe, the concourse dramatically widens compared to the sidelines, meaning the congestion is a virtual non issue. The food lines don't seem to be a big problem there either by comparison.
- I agree that Goldy's Locker Room is poorly laid out. The problem is that whoever designed the place did so on the basis of it being a conventional retail store that gets a few people in and out at a time, not a stadium store that will get overwhelmed. There are so many nooks and crannies along with displays and bins everywhere that you can barely move and it likely costs sales.
- The attendance issues aren't going to get solved by this season anymore than they were for good sized crowds at the TCU and Syracuse games a few years back or for those who got aboard for the stadium when it opened in 2009 and were largely gone by 2011. There are people in the U of M's target demographic who have gone most of their lives without giving Gopher football more than a casual thought. They'll watch a big game on TV if the team heats up like in 2003 and the Citrus Bowl season and might get to a game per season or every other season, but they don't make watching the Gophers an appointment and standard part of their lives the way so many do with the Viking or Packers.
A single great season doesn't solve that. If the Gophers fall to a respectable, but unspectacular 7-5 (4-5) next season with no Floyd or Axe wins for instance, the bounce in attendance created by this season will dissipate and we'll be back to 35,000 live bodies for nonconference games against Sun Belt teams and Big Ten games against the likes of Illinois and Rutgers. To get fans in the stadium in bigger and sustainable numbers, seasons like this one or the Citrus Bowl team have to be the norm, not something that happens once in a blue moon.
I think the tickets are overpriced in general, but heavily discounting now or in the near future won't build a long term fan base. The fan that takes advantage of some offer through Cub or dives in because the U of M slashes prices to fill the house isn't going to go all in, certainly not in great enough amounts. To them a Gopher football game is just another fun day out that could be a bike ride or a museum trip or a an apple orchard journey. What builds a large and long term fan base is success.
Section2
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I was suggesting that we put speakers near the band, not mic the band and run it thru the stadium sound system.
I agree on the video board. It might not be feasible $$-wise, but you wonder if they could take out some seats in the upper deck and put a larger video board on that end? Also agree that band/students should be next to each other in lower level seats and get rid of the students in the upper deck. This seems like the easiest one to fix.
MplsGopher
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And college football just isn't set up to do that.
You have a few elite programs that call all the shots, and get to take up the majority of the blue-chip recruits. Unlike in the NFL where top talent is purposefully directed at the lowest performing teams.
The Ohio States of the world are OK with an up-start Minnesota having a good one-off season, but they do not want sustained levels of success.
Section2
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Excellent post, but particularly this note. 10x too many ticket scanners. Have people roaming thru the line to get thru security to check bags in FRONT of the metal detectors. Then the detectors are purely keys phone in the bin and walk thru. Also, they need to open up more of the open ended entrances to security. And why is it that if you go thru that entrance, there is no metal detectors? Seems weird. But it is such a boondoggle and they need to find ways to expedite.
mjfelton15
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I’m really irritated with the no lids or straws for my pop. Anyone already address this issue? Does anyone know the reasoning? If it’s something to do with environmental crap, then that’s really annoying. I’m sick of fat asses hitting my cup in the holder and spilling my drink that I paid $6.50 for. Not to mention the angle the cup holder is at makes it spill immediately if I don’t take a few sips before putting it in the holder.
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WorkingMyTailOff
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I love the Bank and probably wouldn't have season tickets now if the Vikings and Gophers were still sharing an indoor stadium. It's a great place to be in the fall.
I do wish the crowd would get a little feistier during the game. I think last year and this year some more folks have been making noise on third down, but even with the crazy good start to the Maryland game, it seemed like a lot of fans were not that excited. Not sure how to turn that around.
I do wish the crowd would get a little feistier during the game. I think last year and this year some more folks have been making noise on third down, but even with the crazy good start to the Maryland game, it seemed like a lot of fans were not that excited. Not sure how to turn that around.
mjfelton15
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I wanna stand during the entire game, but everyone around us in section 237 hardly stands. Even on big third down plays defensively. It makes me think I shouldn’t stand and block someone’s view. It’s annoying
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DarrenTheGreek
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I agree 100%. I'm told it is "for the environment" but I've also had 2 pops spill this year. One from a clumsy person and one from my younger son. I need a lid and straw.
A_Slab_of_Bacon
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Agreed.
Like in a random restaurant, fine.
Stadium where there are crowds and you're doing some parkour to get to your seat.... need lids and straws.
mjfelton15
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Might just start bringing my own lids. Don’t think I’ll find a lid to fit the exact size of my souvenir cup. But I might try.
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A_Slab_of_Bacon
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I think those souvenir cup tops might be a standard size.
Sports_Realist
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I am with you on having lids for fountain pops again. The only way this will happen is if people complain loudly and often enough.
Sports_Realist
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There are metal detectors at all entrances, but while most have the walk through kind like at an airport, some others just have security guards with the hand wand models.